Data gathered
with the aid of Jennifer Alexander, CBC Reports, swimmers, and others

Background

Long before the construction of the Confederation Bridge
between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to the north, swimmers sought
to swim across the Northumberland Strait.The first crossing is credited to Evelyn Henry on 15 July 1951.Published times for Evelyn’s swim range
between 8 hours 26 minutes and 9 hours 53 minutes.

In the absence of an official organizing body, the details
of the various swims are sparse; however, there has been increasing interest
in the swim since the year 2000.Consequently, this listing has been compiled to help identify the real
accomplishments of those who have made the crossing without swimming aids
such as wet suits, swim fins, etc.

Jennifer Alexander compiled the original data and the
associated extensive list of references.We would appreciate receiving additional details from anyone who can
provide such information.Please send
the material to the Webmaster.

Some illustrations were obtained from the CBC web site that
reported on Kristin Roe’s swim in great detail.

The Northumberland Strait has proven to be an excellent
training ground for the English Channel. In 1989, Barb MacNeill went on to become Canada's 15th person, and
only Atlantic Canadian, to swim across the English Channel.Mike Gaudet swam
around Manhattan in 1985, and also made an attempt on the English Channel.
Jen Alexander's 2006 English Channel attempt was aborted by the captain, but
she will reattempt the swim in 2009.

Starting and Ending Points

The Northumberland Strait coastline has changed
considerably since Evelyn Henry first swam the strait. Prior to 1966, Cape Jourimain was Jourimain Island,
and was not connected to the mainland. Construction of the Confederation
Bridge began in 1993, and concluded in 1997. As the main piers of the
bridge are 250 metres apart, the bridge can give swimmers a sense of their progress
(or lack of) as they swim across the strait.

The starting points and courses taken by the swimmers have
varied greatly over the years.The
straight-line distance across the Strait is a minimum of 8 miles (13 km) from
Cape Jourimain (1 on the map above) at the eastern
side of the Confederation Bridge (NB) to Borden (3) at the eastern side of
the Bridge on PEI.The bridge's slight
bend increases its length over water to 12.9 km.

Swimming from Cape Tormentine (2)
to the same finishing point at Borden (3) adds a mile (1.6 km) to the
course.Longer courses, up to 32 km,
have finished at Summerside (5) on PEI, or at an
intermediate point on Seacow Head (4).

The need for an official Recording Body is again emphasized
by the media reports of starting or finishing points.Media often fail to differentiate between
Cape Tormentine and Cape Jourimain;
and at least one article used the phrase "Cape Tormentine'sJourimain Island", even though it hasn't been
an island since 1966.

Tides and Currents

The Northumberland Strait experiences predictable but
irregular tides. During the summer of 2008, the tides will last between 2h
47min and 8h 36min. Tide information can be found on the website of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Currents peak at 2.0 knots (3.7 km/h) during the spring
tide and, once each summer month, typically run at a minimum of 0.7-1.0 knots
(1.3-1.9 km/h). Information on the tidal currents is not available online,
but can be found in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans's
"Canadian Tide and Current Tables". These books are available at authorized
chart dealers, and often in public libraries.

Due to the tides and currents, swimmers invariably cover a
V-shaped or Z-shaped course, with the deviation from a straight-line being
dependent upon their speed and the phase of the moon (Spring tide or neap
tide).

Water Temperature

All successful swims to date have been completed
between July 15 and September 6. Near real-time and cumulative historical
temperatures can be accessed through Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Remote Sensing service.
Temperatures between mid-July and early September typically range between
18°C-20°C.

A
temperature plot for early August 2007 is shown in the adjacent picture.PEI is identified by the large white arrow,
and the smaller white arrow identifies the 20°C point on the temperature
scale.

Marine Life

Jellyfish can be a challenge in the Northumberland Strait
during the summer months.According to
the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, only five of the
56 species of jellyfish that occur in Atlantic Canadian waters are harmful to
humans. Lion's Mane jellyfish are dominant, with moon jellies present to a
lesser extent. Portuguese man-o-war are rare, and
only get blown into Atlantic Canadian waters by the gulf stream at the end of
summer.

At the height of their season, the frequency of jellyfish can be
overwhelming, and can be as high as one jellyfish for every 4 square metres.
Jen Alexander reports being stung 10 times during the first 30 minutes of one
of her swims, and estimates being stung 45 times on her single crossing, and
60-80 times on her double crossing. Jellyfish seem to concentrate at the
shore, and begin to die out toward the end of July.

There are large crabs near-shore; swimmers would be
wise to look before putting their feet down. Fishermen claim that the strait
is too shallow for sharks, and state that they have
never seen them in the vicinity. (Near the bridge, the strait reaches a depth
of 26 metres.) Seals also inhabit the strait.

On his web site “Swimming
Downhill”, George Park recalls his participation in one of the
Professional races across the Strait:

Recorded Swims

The details have been
retrieved from various reports in the news media and the sources of those
reports are linked to the recorded times.

·In the absence of an official recording body, there is no guarantee
that these details are correct or complete.

·The list has been broken into two parts.

1.The first portion lists those successful swims that employed no aids
to swimming – e.g. wet suits, flippers, hand paddles, periods out of the
water, or periods holding onto a supporting object, etc.

Jean LaCoursiere of Montreal was
considered an international swimming star when he competed in the 1963 race.
With a sustainable open-water speed of 2.5 miles/hour (4km/hr), Jean had not
expected the race to take longer than four hours. After four hours, his
supply of Coca Cola and Quebec maple syrup had run out. LaCoursiere
used infrarub instead of grease.

NB to PEI.John Sarrat of Nadick, Massachusetts
had polio and was "chilled to a pale blue" by the water, which ranged
from 59-65ºF (15-18.3ºC). Cheered on by hundreds of Islanders, John said,
"If it hadn't been for you wonderful people of Prince Edward Island, I
never would have made it." John finished 3h30 after the last swimmer had
been pulled from the water, and 3h15 after the race had already been
won.

NB to PEI.Herman Willemse ("The Flying Dutchman") of Holland was
recognized as a "world champion long distance swimmer". Willemse had won the 26-mile Atlantic City swim five
consecutive times from 1960-1964, had swum the English Channel (12h45), and
had won Lac St. Jean at least twice. The 1964 race was set to pit Willemse against LaCorsiere.
Shortly before the race, however, both Willemse and
LaCorsiere cancelled. As the swim committee was
leaving to inform the media that they'd cancelled the swim, Willemse called back and said he'd changed his mind. Willemse swam 90-100 strokes per minute for most of the
swim, but ([Ed: allegedly]) cranked up 120 strokes per minute for his
final mile.

5

George
Park

?

NB to PEI.On his
web site “Swimming
Downhill”, George Park recalls his participation in one of the
Professional races across the Strait:

I swam from Cape Tormentine to
Borden, Prince Edward Island, four major rip tides and thousands of
jellyfish, the toughest nine miles I had ever raced.

The jellyfish there are a variety that sting but are not as
bad as some others I have experienced. They were in patches about 50 yards
across and 100 yards in length and I went through several of these patches. I
was stung all over my body.

Half way through the race due to the stings I started
seeing things. Every time I looked at the side of my attending boat I saw
bacon and eggs. The most disappointing thing about this swim was as I walked
out of the water after finishing, someone walked up to me and handed me a dry
tasteless ham sandwich, but all I wanted was the bacon and eggs that I saw on
the side of the boat.

After the race was over and the prize money was given out,
I was on the search for a restaurant that would make me bacon and eggs and
found one who did. For about a week after that when swimming I could see
jellyfish tentacles whenever my face was in the water.... even though I was
swimming in Lake Ontario - no jellyfish there just lamprey eels.

NB to PEI.Jen
Alexander, a Halifax swimmer with type 1
("juvenile") diabetes, conducted 32 blood tests while
treading water to manage her diabetes. Jen swam attached to a waterproof
insulin pump, and was able to maintain her blood sugars at an average level
of 7.0 mmol/L. Scheduling conflicts lead Jen to
swim on the spring tide, during one of the fastest currents of the swim
season. The strong currents and strong tides pulled Jen approximately 15
kilometres east of the bridge. During the worst of the tide, Jen made only 10
metres of forward progress in a 15-minute window.

Lara
Gibson of Halifax, NS, started on Cape Jourimain at
the foot of the Confederation Bridge, and landed just west of the bridge.
Lara had been on track for a 4-hour swim, but currents slowed her progress
during the final kilometre.

First
two-way swim: Cape Jourimain, NB to Borden, PEI to
Cape Tormentine, NB. Jen Alexander, a Halifax
swimmer with Type 1 ("juvenile") diabetes, conducted 60 blood tests
while treading water to manage her diabetes. Jen adjusted the flow rate on
her waterproof insulin pump 14 times during the swim to maintain control of
her diabetes, and averaged 6.2 mmol/L
during the best 10 consecutive hours of the swim. Jen swam from NB to PEI in
6:47 -- one of the fastest recorded single crossings. Her luck changed on the
journey back, however. Pushed back by the wind and the tides, it took her 8
hours to swim the remaining 5 kilometres. Local media report

The
fastest male or female non-wet-suited crossing of the Strait.Jill (Taylor) Leon has a great history of
swimming achievements and contributions to swimming.She established the Dalhousie Masters swim
programme.

Timers:Sherise Davidson
and Tara Leskie, and the Davidson and Leskie family and kids.

Safety Boat:
Captain, Hanson Spence.

Medic & Kayaker:
Joshua Leskie.

Cloudy
sky, calm water, 26°C air temperature, calm water that was reported as “Cold”
for the first 90 minutes; however, this was Jeremy’s first non-wet-suited
swim across the Strait and was #4 of his training for the “Bigger Swim” – his
planned two-way crossing of the Strait that was set for 23 August 2014.

Wet-suited swim.Left Cape Jourimain at 9:15am and arrived at Seacow
Head at 2:15pm – almost exactly 5 hours later.

George
and Winnie Sheen (along with another sailing gentleman - name not available?) from the Summerside
Yacht Club provided the support boat (Island Mist), plus 2 kayakers, Mike Orr
and Simon Segal from Halifax, along with crew Mum Elaine Fraser, Zach Fraser, and fiancé, Phil Thomas.Dad Lloyd
Fraser ran the hectic dryland duties, shuttling
vehicles, kayaks, pets, etc. across
the Strait.

Since the
swim was just days before the 9-11 attacks in the United States, the
fundraising for Nova Scotia Kidsport was cut short;
however, the Chronicle Herald and Daily News in Halifax covered the story, and Jessica
reports that the Journal Pioneer included a photo of her arriving on the
rocks at Seacow Head.

In
addition, Global Television ran a story profiling Jessica’s efforts prior to
the swim (August 31st, 2001) and CBC Radio's main street conducted interviews
with her both pre- and post-swim (August 30th, and September 4th).

Strong winds of 60-70 km/h forced the swimmers to change
their initial plans.So the swim started
in PEI (Borden) and finished on the new Brunswick shore (Cape Tormentine), with the strong wind aiding the leading
swimmers.

Cloudy
day with moderate waves at the start that became 1-2 m swells, with many
stings from the Lion’s Mane and Moon jellies.
Jeremy was targeting the Borden Beach but got caught at the tide 1120 hrs
and, after fighting the flow, decided to aim for the nearest shore at Cape
Traverse.

When his
Dad was diagnosed with a severe arthritic condition in 2010, Jeremy was
stimulated to start to raise funds for associated treatment provided by the Neil Squire
Society that has helped his father so much.
So this is just #3 of Jeremy’s training for “The Bigger Swim” - a two-way
crossing of the Strait planned for August 2014.

After
a 9:10am start, Bill was in second place by 9:30am (500 yards short of first
place). By 12:00pm, he had slipped to third place. At 2:45pm, Bill was back
in second place, 2 miles from shore, but 4.5 miles from Borden. Bill ended
the race at 3pm due to sea sickness. Bill lived in Halifax at the time of the
race, had previously won the Halifax 5-mile and 15-mile swims, and had
"placed well" at a CNE swim.

*

Gerald
MacKenzie

Aborted

After
a 9:10am start, Gerald MacKenzie of the HMCS Stadecona was in third place by 9:30am. By noon, he'd moved
up to second place, but fell back to fifth place by 2:45pm. At 4:15pm, he was
"out of the race -- off course". MacKenzie
was the last swimmer to be pulled from the water.

*

Morgan
Mitchell

Aborted

Morgan
Mitchell, of Charlottetown, pulled out of the race after 1 hour and 50
minutes of swimming, due to cramps in his left leg.

*

Davison
Biggar

Aborted

Davison
Biggar of Charlottetown ended his race after 5
hours and 40 minutes due to being pushed off course.

*

Donnie
“Turk” Arsenault

Aborted

Donald
"Turk" Arsenault of Summerside was in 7th
place after 80 minutes, 5th place after 2 hours and 50 minutes, and out of
the water with cramps after 4h35.

*

Helen
Carragher

19

Aborted

Helen
Carragher of Ebbsfleet
was a crowd favourite, and fought for more than an hour without progress.
After 6h35, she was off course and pulled from the waters "nearly
exhausted". Helen was the second-last swimmer to leave the water.

*

Ronald
Burns

Aborted

Ronald
Burns of Cape Tormentine left the water after 2h10
because of cramps.

Barb
was one of six Summerside Masters Swim Club
swimmers to attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside
Yacht Club.

*

Mike
Gaudet

Aborted

Mike
was one of six Summerside Masters Swim Club swimmers
to attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside Yacht
Club.

*

Terry
Edison

Aborted

Terry
was one of six Summerside Masters Swim Club
swimmers to attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside
Yacht Club.

*

Cyril
Perry

Aborted

Cyril
was one of six Summerside Masters Swim Club
swimmers to attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside
Yacht Club.

*

Jim
Thain

Aborted

Jim
was one of six Summerside Masters Swim Club
swimmers to attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside
Yacht Club.

*

Ben
Kraimer

Aborted

Ben,
from Quebec, was the only non-Summerside swimmer to
attempt the 21-mile swim to the Summerside Yacht
Club.

*

Lori Wedge

Aborted

04
Aug 1986

NB
to PEI. Seasickness caused Lori to abort her swim after three hours.

*

Frank Gaudet

Aborted

NB
to PEI. Frank ended his swim after 4.5 hours because of leg cramps.

*

Larry Rhindress

Aborted

NB to PEI. Larry Rhindress of Fredericton,
NB, was "pulled onboard" for unspecified reasons just 1 kilometre
away from his destination at Borden.

*

Wayne Berry

Aborted

31
May 1997

Wet-suited swims.Wayne and Johnathan attempted to swim along the line of the
Confederation Bridge during the bridge's opening ceremonies, but experimental
weights in their wetsuits strained their knee muscles, causing them to abort
their attempts.

*

Johnathan Hickey

Aborted

*

Johnathan Hickey

Incomplete

28
Aug 1997

Claimed that they swam 67 kilometres, but either hung on to
the boat or got on the boat regularly to eat. Got on the boat to motor over
to a fisherman and ask for directions.

*

Wayne Berry

Incomplete

*

Jen Alexander

38

Aborted

28
Aug 2013

Traditional (Non-wet-suited) swim from Cape Jourimain (NB).

10 hours 42 minutes of one-arm swimming and travelling a
distance of 16.6 km before the headwind forced her to retire.

Jen has conquered the Strait in the past; however, her
ongoing battle with the management of the physiological aspects exacerbated
shoulder problems that even Jen’s determination and extensive physiotherapy
could not conquer . . . so, she decided that a “one-arm” swim was the only
way she could get back into the waters she loves.

Jen’s
extensive report is perhaps one of the best documented swims on the
Strait and is worthwhile reading from that standpoint; however, it is more
important in terms of documenting the extra challenges encountered by an athlete managing diabetes.